How to Draw Faeries

Step 1.

We'll start off with a few tips before we get going on drawing our cute fairy. Things that you'll need to know: types of fairies, size of the stereotypical fairy, and we'll throw in a little lore. There are many many types of fae creatures; banshees, grey men, doppelgangers, watershees and many more. Fairies are very devious creatures that possess arcane and necrotic powers. Most fairy species can change shapes and appearances. They love playing tricks and don't be mistaken by the disney movies, fae creatures were designed to scare the living daylights out of children and are often assoiciated with drowning and devouring souls, killing and disappearances, even children with birth defects. It was said that keeping a cross on you would keep you safe, so they were also a tool for keeping children in the faith. The picture here depicts the average stereotypical size of a fairy compared to a normal human, however, they really can be any size you want, but this is about the size that we'll be using today.

Step 2.

Now we'll explore the different types of wings that a fairy would have. I've provided a few samples but don't feel limited to using them. 1.) Small dragonfly like wings are typical for pixies. They are delicate and nearly completely transparent save for the veins that run through them for support. These are often the types of wings fae creatures have according to European lore. 2.) Your typical western style animation fairy wing. Often seen without the veins running through them, this is the kind that is usually used in cartoons in the west. 3.) Butterfly like wings are also common in European and Western lore and artwork and can look like the wings of any type of butterfly. 4.) This is more the of the kind of wing that is used in Eastern animations (animes and the like) for fairy and fairly like creatures and tend to be more whimsical than the Western counterpart. Now that you've had an intro to fae lore and a couple examples of wings, we'll move onto the main event.

Step 3.

We're going to start by drawing the head and an 'I' frame. The top of the 'I' will represent the shoulders, the bottom the hips and the vertical line will guide the curve of the body. See how the top and the bottom of the 'I' are shorter on one side than the other. This means that we'll be having her at a slight angle, or a 3/4 view.

Step 4.

Next we'll add on the arms and the legs and give her a cute little pose. We'll also decide the placement of the ears and make a little guide for the face of where the eyes and moth will be. We'll put on the shapes for the muscles as well.

Step 5.

From there we'll go to define the shape of the body more, fleshing her out so she looks more human-like, roughly lining the shape and determining the features for the face and ears a bit more.

Step 6.

Now we'll tidy up the shape of the body and face. We'll also add the hair. We're going to give her short hair for this tutorial but feel free to change the hairstyle if you want to. Also, I have given her a somewhat playful expression on her face.

Step 7.

Now for her clothes and accessories. Fairies don't like to wear much in the way of clothes and what they do wear they like to be flowey and easy to move around it. They don't like pants and have to use what they have available in resources to them to create their clothes. Leaves, flowers, bits of string and scraps of cloth are normally what they have available to them, however silks aren't uncommon, they have easier access to the insects that create them and a little goes along way with them. We're going to give her some earings and an armband and a bracelet made out of a button. Also I've put a flower in her hair. Feel free to design your own outfit for her and accessories too.

Step 8.

We'll add the wings now. I went with short almost dragonfly-like wings. See how you can almost see the wing underneath through the one in front. This gives it an almost translucent effect. You can pick a different kind of wings to use if you want to but remember the veins, they are the main support for the wings, just like the veins in a leaf.

Step 9.

Now that we have all the details drawn out we'll do the lineart. Outline the details using black or a dark color. Outline less details and you have more of a cartoony look, outline more and you'll get more of an anime-like look or 'animu'. Also, I added a couple ladybugs.

Step 10.

Since she really didn't look like she was flying, I gave her something to sit on. This part is optional. And that's the end of the tutorial. Enjoy and Good Luck

Here is a short little tutorial on "how to draw faeries", step by step. From the base to the lines, here are the steps, including a couple tips on creating fairy wings that will be sure to impress. Good luck!

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